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Friday, February 19, 2010 KABUL: NATO reported Friday the deaths of two more troops in a major offensive in southern Afghanistan, bringing to six the total killed in one day's fighting. The nationalities of the two soldiers were not given, according to policy, in a brief statement by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). "Two ISAF service members died yesterday during Operation Mushtarak in southern Afghanistan," it said, referring to a showcase offensive in a poppy-growing region of Helmand province that began a week ago. "One service member was killed by small-arms fire and another died following a separate small-arms fire incident," it said. An ISAF spokesman, Sergeant Jeff Loftin, confirmed the total number of NATO solders killed on Thursday was six. ISAF reported late Thursday the deaths of four foreign soldiers during the day -- three by mines, huge numbers of which have been planted by the insurgents in the target area, and o...

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 NATO offensive faces Taliban resistanceKABUL: Booby traps are continuing to cause problems for US and Afghan troops on day four of one of NATO’s biggest offensives against the Taliban. Military officials say hundreds of mines have been found, slowing up progress – US marines admit they’ve been surprised by their sheer number. The troops have also endured sporadic sniper fire in and around Marjah, the Taliban’s last stronghold in Helmand province. NATO says civilians‘ safety its top priority after twelve people, half of them children, were killed by US rockets. Hanif Atmar, Afghanistan’s Interior Minister, described what happened as “unfortunate”: “The insurgents were using a compound, which at that point our forces didn’t know whether it was occupied by the civilians”, he said. An airstrike in neighbouring Kandahar province also killed five civilians who were mistakenly believed to have been planting roadside bombs. NATO’s credibility rests on...

Sunday, February 14, 2010 KABUL: The NATO force in Afghanistan Sunday said 12 Afghan civilians were killed when a rocket missed its intended target during a major offensive against the Taliban. "Two rockets from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launched at insurgents firing upon Afghan and ISAF forces impacted approximately 300 metres off their intended target, killing 12 civilians in Nad Ali district, Helmand province today," NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. "ISAF commander General Stanley McChrystal conveyed his apologies to President Hamid Karzai for this unfortunate incident," it said.

Friday, December 04, 2009 BRUSSELS: More than 20 countries plan to send more troops to Afghanistan following U.S. President Barack Obama's increased commitment to the war, NATO said on Thursday, but the overall number falls short of U.S. expectations.As NATO foreign ministers gathered to discuss their response to Obama, the alliance also said it still needed over 200 more police and military training teams to boost Afghan forces so they can eventually take responsibility for security.On Wednesday, Obama announced he would send 30,000 more U.S. troops to join the fight against the Taliban-led insurgency, and Washington wants up to 7,000 more troops from allies.NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he expected U.S. allies to provide at least 5,000 extra troops and probably a few thousand more -- still short of the 10,000 troops and trainers Pentagon officials are seeking."There are well over 20 countries that are indicating or have already indicated that they intend...

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 WASHINGTON: The United States has chided Turkey for canceling a NATO military exercise because Israel also was participating.Neither the Turks nor NATO has confirmed that Israel's participation in the exercises over Turkey was Ankara's reason for pulling out.State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tuesday, however, "as to the question of whether there was a government that was invited to participate and then removed at the last minute, we think it's inappropriate for any nation to be removed from an exercise like this at the last minute."He was asked whether that was what happened and whether Israel was the spurned country. He confirmed both.Muslim Turkey's traditionally close ties with the Jewish state have cooled since the Israel-Hamas Gaza war in January.

Monday, September 07, 2009 BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday said she would "deeply regret" if any civilian lives were lost in a recent NATO air strike in Afghanistan, which was ordered by a German military commander. "If there were civilian casualties, I would deeply regret that," said Merkel before meeting in Berlin with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She called for a "quick, complete and open" inquiry by NATO into Friday's raid on northern Kunduz province. Merkel reassured the around 4,000-strong German troops in increasingly violent northern Afghanistan, who she said were serving "in difficult conditions", that their country was "standing behind them". The NATO-led force in Afghanistan denied Sunday that its investigators had already wrapped up their inquiry and had reached a definitive death toll. Mohammad Omar, governor of Kunduz province, said by telephone Sunday that six civilians, including a child, we...

Friday, August 28, 2009 ANKARA: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen joined Turkish leaders at a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner Thursday in what he described as a manifestation of his respect for Islam. The former Danish foreign minister's bid for NATO's top post had met with harsh objections from predominately Muslim Turkey, partly due to his stance during the crisis over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in Denmark in 2005. "Please see my presence here tonight as a clear manifestation of my respect for Islam as one of the world's great religions," Rasmussen said at the iftar, or the evening meal when Muslims break their dawn-to-sunset fast during the holy month of Ramadan."Fasting is meant to teach patience, modesty, self-restraint and giving and reaching out to the less fortunate. These are all universal human values that go beyond cultures and religions," he said. Rasmussen praised Turkey's role as "a bridge between Europe, th...

KABUL: NATO military commanders told U.S. President Barack Obama's envoy on Sunday that they needed more troops and other resources to beat back a resurgent Taliban, particularly in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border.The Taliban has made inroads in recent months in many areas that U.S. forces though they had stabilized. The deteriorating security has increased pressure on the Obama administration to consider sending more forces into the fight, a move that could prove a hard sell with the U.S. Congress and the American public.U.S. Major General Curtis Scaparotti, commander of forces in eastern Afghanistan, said he told U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke that veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani had expanded his reach in several areas in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan."Haqqani is the central threat. We've seen that expansion and that's part of what we're fighting," Scaparotti told reporters after the meeting.The U.S. military has launched...

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 KABUL: A suicide car bomb in the Afghan capital Tuesday killed seven Afghan civilians and some NATO troops, and wounded more than 50 people in an attack two days before elections, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast and a volley of rockets fired into the heavily secured capital, one of which an official said struck the outskirts of the compound of President Hamid Karzai but caused no damage. The latest attacks come two days after a deadly suicide car bombing outside the main NATO base in Kabul and follow repeated Taliban threats of new assaults in a bid to sabotage presidential and provincial council elections on Thursday. The explosion was near a US military base on a key road leading east out of Kabul, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said. "There have been some ISAF soldiers killed and several wounded," an ISAF press officer said. On the Afghan casualties, public health ministry spokesman Ahmad Fari...

KABUL: NATO's new secretary-general pledged Wednesday that the alliance would remain in Afghanistan despite flagging support in many nations from voters anxious over rising deaths among civilians and Western forces.Anders Fogh Rasmussen flew to Kabul to meet with politicians and military leaders two days after taking control of an alliance that is struggling to maintain its cohesion and relevance as it battles Taliban insurgents thousands of miles (kilometers) from Europe."I can assure you and the Afghan people that we will stay and support you for as long as it takes to finish our job," the former Danish prime minister told Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a joint press conference in the capital, Kabul.Some 65,000 troops from 42 nations serve in a NATO-led force hobbled by disagreements over the need for more troops, and widely divergent national restrictions on when troops can fight. Recent polls show majorities in Britain, Germany and Canada oppose sending more troops...

Wednesday, August 05, 2009 BRUSSELS: NATO's governing body approved a plan on Tuesday to reorganize the alliance's command structure in Afghanistan by setting up a new headquarters to handle the day-to-day running of the war.NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the new Intermediate Joint Headquarters in Kabul will be commanded by U.S. Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez. Rodriguez participated in Tuesday's deliberations of the North Atlantic Council governing body by videoconference along with his boss, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.The decision is part of a reorganization of the U.S. and NATO command structure aimed at easing the pressure on McChrystal by removing his burden of the day-to-day operation of the war. It is similar to the model used in Iraq, where overall command of the multinational forces was under a four-star American general, while a three-star general ran daily operations. NATO has about 64,000 troops, half of them Americans, in Afg...